


;nswick, 

GEORGIA, 

ITS PORT AND CITY. 








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CIRCULAR LETTER, 



ADDRESSED TO THB 



f\ Commercial and Business Men of the United Slates 







FOUEIGN COUNTRIES, 



THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 





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BRUNSWICK, 

GEORGIA, 

ITS PORT AND CITY. 



CIRCULAR LETTER, 



ADDRRSSBD TO THI 



Cofflinercial and Business Men of the United States 



y 



FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 



THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 



CITY OF BRUNSWICK. 



NEW-YORK : 

QEORGK F NESBITT AND CO., PRINTERS, COR WALL AMD WATER STBKKTB. 

1853. 



BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA, 

ITS PORT AND CITY. 



The President and Directors of " The City of Brunswick," 
desiring; to afford exact and authentic information concernina; the 
objects, plans and purposes of the Company, present to the public 
the following facts and considerations : — 

The port of Brunswick lies about midway on the coast of 
Georgia, in latitude thirty-one degrees north ; longitude, eighty-one 
degrees, thirty minutes. The waters by which it is formed are 
commonly known as " Turtle River." Correctly speaking, this 
river is a great inlet, or arm of the sea — the waters of which are as 
salt as the ocean itself. It passes between two islands, known by 
the names of Jekyll and St. Simon, forming a wide, deep and swift 
column, and flowing into the interior upwards of twenty miles. It 
is the only salt-water harbor on our southern Atlantic coast. 

Safe, easy and uninterrupted communication with the sea is se- 
cured at all times. Ships, whose masters or crews had never before 
seen the port, can enter in perfect safety without a pilot. This is 
frequently done, in stress of weather, by coasting vessels of heavy 
burthen, by night as well as by day. Once in port, they find the 
best anchorage, completely land-locked, and certain shelter from 
the storm. So capacious is the roadstead, that the largest navy in 
the world may find a secure haven at every season of the year, and 
in any state of the elements. The harbor also presents positions 
for defence strong enough to render it impregnable : thus affording 
protection alike from the violence of the; sea, and the batteries of 
an enemv. 



Some years ago, the Government of the United States, acting 
under a resolution of the Senate, appointed a Board of Commis- 
sioners to examine the harbors south of the Chesapeake Bay, in 
order to determine their comparative advantages for the establish- 
ment of a Naval Depot. Three distinguished officers of the navy, 
Commodores Woolsey, Claxton and Shubrick, were assigned to this 
duty. After personal inspection of the several ports whose natural 
facilities gave them a claim on the public attention, the Commis- 
sioners, in their report to the Navy Department, designated Bruns- 
wick as uniting the greatest number of requisite qualifications, and 
as holding a position near the great outlet of the commerce of the 
West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico, which would be invaluable 
in a state of maritime warfare. The report is now on the files of 
the department, and constitutes the basis upon which the statement 
in this paragraph is made. 

The site of Brunswick is a beautiful bluff of close sand, perfectly 
dry, and very eligible for a city of the largest dimensions. The 
land rises on a regular grade. Commencing at Brandy Point, on a 
level with high water, it ascends gradually until it reaches an eleva- 
tion, on the north line of the old Oglethorpe town, more particu- 
larly referred to hereafter, of fifteen feet. From thence, the 
ascending grade continues, with the same regularity, to the point of 
the Canal Lock on Street, at an elevation of thirty feet above 
hif^h-water mark. And this is about its summit-level. The best 
anchorage may be found near the bluff, ranging along the whole 
extent of the town, in from twenty to forty feet water at the lowest 
time of tide. 

The neck of land on which Brunswick is situated, has a width, at 
its centre, of one and a half miles ; the front being on Oglethorpe 
Bay, or Inner Harbor, as it is called. Its extreme length, from 
south-east to north-west, along the Oglethorpe .Bay, is about three 
and a quarter miles. It is bounded on the east by St. Simon's 
Sound ; on the west by Oglethorpe Bay and Turtle Kiver; on the 
south by St. Simon's Sound ; and on the north by a high Pine Land, 
(so called.) This high Pine Land runs gradually back about twenty- 
five miles, until it i-eaches the sand hills in Wayne County, at an 
elevation of ninety-two feet above tide-water at Brunswick. And 
this is the highest point of land on the line of the Brunswick 
and Florida Railroad. 



5 

The distance of Brunswick from the ocean is about six miles. 
Its hi<rhcst temperature is ninoty-four degrees — its lowest, twenty- 
two degrees : with a 7ncnn temperature of sixty-seven. The summer- 
heats are tempered by cool breezes regularly setting in from the sea ; 
and the diseases ascribed to some parts of the low country of (Icor- 
gia are unknown there. Pure water, and a salubrious climate at all 
seasons of the year, offer securities for health and comfort, to an 
extent not to be found in any other port on the southern coast. 

The superior position of Brunswick, and the natural advautagea 
possessed by its harbor for a great commercial and maritime set- 
tlement, have been long known and understood. About a century 
ago, General Oglethorpe, when Cotomander-in-Chief of Georgia and 
South Carolina, designated this harbor as the only one on the 
southern sea-board adapted for a naval dejiot, and as being, also, the 
best, in all respects, for a commercial emporium. Under instruc- 
tions from the then reigning monarch of England, George II., the 
governor laid out the town of Britnswick. Subsequent to that event, 
a British seventy-four gun ship entered the harbor, and lay at an- 
chor there for a whole year. In the year 1790, when nearly all 
the surrounding territory was in the undisturbed possession of the 
Indians, and when no produce could reach the port, except along the 
coast, a sale of the town lots took place. Such was the estimate 
of their value, even at that early day, that some lots were sold at 
prices varying from ,£500 to iESOO sterling— or, from $2,400 to 
upwards of $4,000 each. 

The State of Georgia holds an elevated rank among her sister 
confederates of the Union. From the mountains to the sea-coast, 
she possesses almost every variety of soil and climate. She is gifted 
abundantly with mineral, vegetable and agricultural wealth. But 
her growth has been impeded, her energies have been crippled, and 
her material resources in a great degree locked up, by the want of a 
safe, direct, and ready access to the sea. In other words, she has 
hitherto been without a good port. That great, paramount necessity ^ 
long comprehended, but never before provided for, is now about to 
be supplied. An outlet for her immensely valuable productions, 
and an inlet for all the foreign necessaries and luxuries which she 
may desire, is to be opened to her. 

During the last session of her Legislature, a charter was granted 
to the proprietors of the city of Brunswick, under which a complete 



orgauization of the company has been effected. The capital stock 
has been fixi'd at three millions of dollars, ($3,000,000,) in thirty 
thousand i^hares^ of one hundred dullars ($100) each. 

The property of the company consists of three thousand and fifty- 
seven city lots, including the old town of Brunswick, as laid out by 
Governor OiiU'thorpe — embracing, as already stated, an area of 
about tlirL'(> miles and a tjuarter — directly upon the water-front. 
In addition to the city lots already surveyed and located, the com- 
pany own several tracts of land adjoining and in the immediate 
vicinity, comprising fourteen hundred and sixty-five acres. In the 
purchasL- of these lands, and in the improvements upon them, the 
sum of six hundred thousand dollars has already been expended^ 
A spacious hoti'l, with out-buildings, wharves, store-houses, dwelling- 
houses, and laii 1 culverts, for the drainage of the city, have also 
been constructed. 

The great stream known as the Altamaha River penetrates, with 
its branches, the heart of the State of Georgia, from the ocean to 
the mountains. It is the largest river on this side of the Missis- 
sippi ; but it flows into the sea, for some miles near its mouth, over 
a number of banks and shoals, inaccessible to vessels of any burthen. 

The first grand object to be effjctcd was to unite this river, hav- 
ing no good harbor at its mouth, with the port of ]?runswick, which 
has no navigable river running into the interior. And this object is 
now almost accomplished by means of a canal. 

The Altamaha has two large branches, or divisions, called the 
Ocmulgce and the Oconee. It is navigable by steamboats, at all 
seasons of the year, to its junction with these branches. And it 
runs a distance of about one hundred miles, by land, from the mouth 
of the canal to the point at which the junction is formed. 

The largest of the two branches is the Ocmulgee, or southern 
branch. It is navigable, for river steamboats, to Macon — a dis- 
tance, by land, of 130 miles above its junction with the Altamaha ; 
and a distance from the same point, by the courses of the river, of 
250 miles. 

The other, or northern branch — the Oconee — is navigable, by 
steamboats, to Milledgovillo— a distance of 200 miles from its 
junction with the Altamaha. 

Above the point of steamboat navigation, each of these branches 
is navigable for lumber a distance of 100 mile.?. There are also 



innumerable tiibutaiy streams, navigable by small boats and rafts, 
emptying into the river and its branches in all directions ; and 
which, if followed through their multiplied windings, would cover a 
navigation not less, in extent, than four to seven thousand miles. 

The neck of land which separates the harbor of Brunswick from 
the navigable waters of the Altamaha River is distant thence, in a 
northerly direction, less than twelve miles. It has been stated that 
a canal connecting the two points is very near completion. This 
work has been constructed under the authority of the State of 
Georgia. The sum of six hundred thousand dollars has been ex- 
ponded upon it. So important was the object deemed by the State 
authorities, that the Legislature adopted a resolve empowering 
the Govei'nor to appoint three Commissioners, whose duty it should 
be to examine the port of Brunswick, and to report, upon oath, 
whether or not it would be advisable for the State to render her aid 
in opening the navigation to the interior. Three distinguished 
citizens, judges of the courts, were appointed, — Messrs. John G. 
Polhill, Hugh Lawsou, and Moses Fort. After accurate peisonal 
inspection, they reported that it " was highly advisable for the 
State to render aid efficiently and promptly." Upon the faith of 
this report, the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) was sub- 
scribed and paid by the State towards the completion of the canal. 
Its length will be twelve miles. Its junction with the Altamaha 
Piiver is at a point called Six Mile Creek, on the south branch, and 
is about twenty miles from the mouth of the river. A lock, to bo 
supplied by tide water, is to be constructed at each end of the canal. 
The contractors have bound themselves to complete the work dur- 
ing the present spring, and the force now employed ujwn it is suffi- 
cient for that purpose. 

This canal will change the whole course of trade on the Altamaha 
and its waters. Planters can send their crops to Brunswick direct 
by the river, and thus avoid the expense, risk, and delay of tran- 
shipment, at Darien, for Savannah and Charleston. Produce can 
be carried by steamers much cheaper than by railroad, and still 
yield large profits to the former. 

The lumber trade alone presents an array of facts well worthy of 
attention. Its importance and extent are not generally understood. 
The Altamaha and all its branches abound in forests of the finest 
yellow pine, equal in quality to any that can be found on the con- 



8 

tinent, and sufficient in extent to supply the markets of the woild. 
White oak, cypress, live oak, and various other timbers, are also to 
be found in abundance. Any quantity of this timber may be brought 
into market through the canal. Five hundred million feet (500,- 
000,000) a year can easily be produced. It can be cut and deliv- 
ered at Brunswick at less cost per one thousand feet, than it can be 
cut and delivered on any other river known on the Atlantic coast. 
When it arrives at the port of Brunswick, it has reached a point 
where ships of the largest class can be freighted with it for any part 
of the world. It is a fact little known, but worthy of record here, 
as a matter of commercial history, that four hundred million feet of 
timber (400,000,000) are annually brought to Troy and Albany, 
through the Erie Canal — a distance of 364 miles ; and a large por- 
tion of it coming from the lakes. 

In the West Indies, and almost within sight, as it were, of the 
pine forests of Georgia, the State of Maine finds one of her best and 
largest markets. The Island of Cuba alone consumes forty millions- 
of feet for the single article of sugar-boxes. Yet this supply is 
brought from our Eastern country, passing on its voyage the very 
gateway of Brunswick, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles, and is sold* 
at remunerative rates. 

The statistics of Maine and of the Province of New Brunswick, 
convey some interesting information respecting the extent of the 
timber trade in those regions. The State of Maine builds more ships 
than all the other States of the Union, as the following summary wiH; 
show : — 

Vessels built in the United States in 37^ years, from 1815 tO' 

1852 :— 

1815 a 1824, 10 years, 8,604 vessels, 879,858 tons. 

1825 a 1834, 10 " 9,147 " 1,089,805 " 

1835 a 1844, 9^ " 8,005 " 1,050,418 " 

1845 a 1852, 8 " 11,599 " 2,072,575 " 



37^ " 37,355 " 5,092,656 " 

1848, 1851 vessels built, 318,076 tons ) ^ ^..-.-g, ___. 
1852,1844 " " 351,494" J - greatest years. 

Another important item in the business of Brunswick, and in the 
revenues of the canal, will be the article of turpentine. The pine 
lands of Georgia, including at least one-sixth of all its territory, 
have been hitherto unproductive. Large tracts of this territory,, 



thus newly opened, have been explored by gentlemen from North 
Carolina, with reference solely to its manufacture. The facilities 
for carrying on this branch of commerce, are without limit. Ar- 
rangements having that object in view, are now in progress, and, 
from this consideration alone, an increased value of 200 per cent, 
has already been given to the lands. 

All the other products of the county — cotton, rice, sugar, corn, 
flour and stock — must, also, seek a market through this canal. It 
is a safe and moderate calculation to estimate the cotton alone at 
100,000 bales a year, with a steady prospective increase on that 
number. All the sea-island cotton which now grows south-west of 
the Altamaha River — all that which now issues from St. John's 
River, and other points in Florida, must naturally go to Brunswick 
as the nearest shipping port. This is a sort of " longshore " busi- 
ness, entirely distinct from that of the railroad or canal. 

Other and greater benefits, however, are to flow from this enter- 
prise, and from others immediately connected with it. 

The Brunswick and Florida Railroad Company are now construct- 
ing a line of road, designed ultimately to connect Brunswick, in 
Georgia, with Pensacola, in Florida — or, in other words, the At- 
lantic Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico — thus cutting off the circui- 
tous and critical navigation round the Capes of Florida. The great 
national importance of such a work has long been felt and acknow- 
ledged The line is to run, in the first instance, from Brunswick 
to the Gulf of Mexico, via Thomasville, in Thomas County, Georgia, 
to the port of St. Mark's, in Florida ; with a branch from the main 
line at Troupville, to Albany, on Flint River. This river, which 
is the principal tributary of the Chattahoochee, affords a steamboat 
navigation to Finder ton, in Georgia, at the end of the railroad com- 
munication with the big bend of the Ocmulgee. 

The road is now under contract, and the work is prosecuted under 
the most experienced and energetic management. The company 
propose, at the earliest practicable moment, to extend it from Thom- 
asville to Pensacola, in a direct line. 

It will penetrate the finest cotton-growing region of the United 
States The rich and fertile cotton-lands on the line of the road are 
rapidly inviting settlements of wealthy plantjrs, from the sea-board 
further north. The distance saved by the road, when it reaches 
Florida, to all tlio oomnifroo of tlie States bordering on tho Cnlf of 



10 

Mexico, will exceed 1 ,000 miles, for each passage to and from Europe 
and the Northern soa-board, and the insurance against sea-risks will 
be reduced one-half. 

Other and great improvements must soon follow. The States of 
the West are projecting and constructing various links of communi- 
cation ; and the time is not far distant when an immense system of 
railroads will cover, like a network, the whole valley of the Missis- 
sippi. And all these lines must ultimately be more or less tributary 
to the growth and business of Brunswick. 

By the adoption of the Brunswick and Florida route, only 400 

miles of railroad will be required, on an easy grade and on a course 

almost straight, to connect the Mississippi River, at Vicksburg, with 

the Atlantic Ocean. At a freight of 3 cents per ton per mile, a 

500 lb. bag of cotton can be carried from New Orleans to the 

Shipping Port of Brunswick, for - - - - $3 00 

Freight from Brunswick to Liverpool, ^d. per lb., - - 5 00 

Insurance on $50, at 1;^ per cent., - - - - 63 



Making, by this route, the cost of taking a bale from New 

Orleans to Liverpool, - - - - - - $8 63 

While, from New Orleans, around Florida, to Liver- 
pool, the freight ranges from fd. to l^d. per lb. 
If we call the freight and Mississippi River and 
port charges |d. per lb., it will be on a 500 lb. 
bale, - - - |8 75 

Insurance ranges from 2 to 3 per cent. ; if we call it 

2 per cent, on $50, - - - - - 1 00 $9 75 

Difference in favor of the Brunswick route, per bale, 
From Mobile to Brunswick, 300 miles, at same 

rates, is - " - 
Freight from Brunswick to Liverpool, ^d. per lb., - 
Insurance do. do. $50, 1;^ per cent. - 

While around Florida the expenses are same as from 
New Orleans, - - _ _ _ _ 

Difference in favor of the Brunswick route, per bale, - $1 87 
Besides the gain in time by this mode of forwarding. 

To those districts of the States of Greorgia, Alabama, Mississippi, 
Texas and Florida, which are situated near the line of the road, the 
amount saved will far exceed the estimate given ; whilst to the 
States of Tennessee, Louisiana, and all the northern sea-board 
States, the advantages bv this route will be equally great. 



$1 


12 


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63 




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88 


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- $9 


75 



11 

The distance from the northern commercial towns, to Tehuantc- 
pec, will also be shortened about as much as the distance to and 
from Europe ; and a valuable avenue will thus be opened for trade 
and travel to Mexico, via Vera Cruz ; and by the Isthmus of Te- 
huantepec to California and the Pacific. 

The Secretary of the Treasury, in his last annual report, (Janu- 
ary, 1853,) states the annual amount of the agricultural, mineral 
and manufacturing productions of the United States at not less than 
three thousand millions, (3,000,000,000,) a large portion of which 
is transported by river, canal, or coasting vessels, or on railroads, 
and which, in the course of trade, changes hands several times be- 
fore reaching the domestic consumer ; — making an aggregate 
amount of internal and coastwise traffic counting by thousands 
of millions ; whilst the whole amount shipped to foreign countries, 
and finding an outlet in foreign markets, is only one hundred and 
fifty millions, (150,000,000,) or one-twentieth fart of the entire pro- 
duction of the country. In the same document, the Secretary 
states, that the coastwise trade^ to and from the American ports on 
the Gulf of Mexiai^ is of itself^ probably^ nearly equal, in point of 
value, to the entire export of American productions to foreign nations. 

The completion of these two great works — the canal and the 
railroad — will give to Brunswick the full benefit of her natural ad- 
vantages, and place her in a position to become the great commer- 
cial emporium of the South. There is no sound reason why goods 
should not be bought as cheap, and produce command as high a 
price at Brunswick as at Charleston or New Orleans. Ships from 
Liverpool, Bordeaux, or the East Indies, can go to Brunswick as 
readily as to New-York or Charleston. And many causes combine 
to render this the cheapest commercial port in the United States. 
Among these are the deep water — the bold shore — the city side 
from which wharfs can be readily and cheaply projected — the faci- 
lity of approach to the harbor, no pilotage being necessary, and 
there being no currents to contend against — the safe anchorage, and 
the healthy climate. There will be no delay either in running into 
port or putting out to sea — no heavy river charges — and no loss of 
time to increase the cost of merchandise. 

The busy hum of a large, industrious and energetic population, 
will soon be heard in the streets of Brunswick. Seamen and ships 
will be profitably employed there. Cotton, grain, sugar, tobacco, 



12 

lead, pork, wool, and every other home production will go there ; 
and the merchant of large capital will soon find lucrative objects in 
which it can be invested. Yards for building ships — factories for 
making carriages, and for other mechanical and manufacturing pur- 
poses, will be estabUshed on a large scale. Blacksmiths and ship- 
wrights are already there, and the prices of lumber, and the wages 
of mechanics are much the same as in the timber regions of 
Maine — no higher. Steam mills are now in process of erection, and 
it is believed that at least 500 vessels will be laden with lumber for 
the English and French markets, and for the Northern States, during 
the next season. 

The tide of emigration has already turned towards Brunswick. 
Large quantities of land are being purchased on the waters of the 
Altamaha. Experienced lumbermen from Maine and North Caro- 
lina are engaged in the enterprise. Some of them are erecting saw- 
mills to go into operation immediately on the completion of the 
canal. Cotton houses and cotton presses will also be erected. 
Mercantile houses for lumb:r, agencies for the purchase of cotton, 
turpentine agencies, banking houses, and commercial projects of 
every description will spring into existence immediately on the 
opening of the port. 

Various powerful causes are at work to build up, in this new 
field of enterprise, a trade and business far outreaching any reason- 
able estimate which the Directors are willing at this time to lay 
before the public. It is sufficient for them to know that the day is 
near at hand when the City and Port of Brunswick will present to 
the country a solid, permanent structure of commercial and maritime 
prosperity not surpassed, in its relative importance, by that of any 
port on the American continent. 

By order of the Board of Directors, 

WILLIAM CHAUNCEY, President. 

Thomas A. Dexter, Secretary. 
Amos Davis, Treasurer. 

Office, of the Proprietors of the City of Brunswick., 
cor. of Broadway and Wall St.., New-York., March 1, 1853. 



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